Toying with "threshold" mechanic.

[Morgenstern]

I've got some new skill checks comming up and I'm thinking about a variation on the skill synergy rules where the chack has certain conditional penalties (If X is true, -4 to check). This variation says 'if you have threshold with Skill Y, the penalty is canceled.' Threshold being defined as "your skill bonus is equal to or greater than the threat level of the adventure."

I should have a more detailed example soon .

[LordKruelos]

Sort of a "toolkit" where the recommended kit is some prior degree of training

[Wolverine]

Would it be a case where, if your specific skill (either total or ranks) was high enough, the effects for failing a roll were lessened (unless, of course, you Crit Failed)?

[Morgenstern]

Well, what I was looking at was recon checks that could be made before a battlefield confrontation started (to gain various bonuses during the fight). The Basic format was make a Notice check. There would be various penalties, most of them about -4 that each listed a skill. If you had threshold with that skill, you ignored the penalty. Its basically a more robust version of a synergy bonus.

NOTICE SKILL
Battlefield Recon Check - DC 20
Conditions: Modifier (threshold skill)
Location
Battlefield is in a town or city: -4 (Investigate)
Battlefield is in the wilderness: -4 (Survival)
Presence
Battlefield is in occupied by an hostile citizens: -4 (Disguise)
Battlefield is in occupied by an enemy arm: -10 (Disguise)

It basically differentiates spies - they all have good Notice ranks, but some will be situationally better based on what other skills they have in support of their goal.

Lots of L5R scout-types would have recon tricks they could apply to this check to gain additional benefits if a battle takes place at the area they've scouted.

[Morgenstern]

Sort of a "toolkit" where the recommended kit is some prior degree of training

That is a very interesting comparison and kinda inspiring... Hmm.

[Antilles]

Hrm, you could add conditions to cover every skill, if you so wanted... I like it .

Obstacles
Scale cliffs or castle walls: -4 (Athletics)
Jump across rooftops or treetops: -4 (Acrobatics)
Suspicious guards: -6 (Bluff)
Alert Guards: -4 (Blend)
Hesitant Informants: -4 (Impress)
Scared Informants: -4 (Intimidate)
Pickpocket important missive: -6 (Prestidigitation)
Negotiate with information broker: -6 (Haggle)


Of course, as I'm writing these it occurs to me that if I were a playing a scout/spy, I'd rather have played it out as a proper scene, rather than condense it down to one check. Might be better to not put too much detail into it...

[Morgenstern]

Its kinda a prelude to a confrontation, so there is a certain amount of 'get on with it' intended by the default process. I wouldn't want to slice it too thin, just highly a couple of potential supporting skills. Sort of showcase what a Unicorn CLan scout is not a Crab scout nor a Scorpion Ninja - they all can get the job done, but they shine at different times.

[Antilles]

Yeah, I can see how it works as a subsystem of the battlefield rules.

"Alright guys, battle time. Bob, give me a recon check, see what the enemy's up to. Bill, your priest is making an inspiring speech to the troops about their ancestors and stuff, give me an impress check. Benny, last-minute tactics check vs the opposed general, see who has positioned his troops best. Roll 'em, boys."

That sounds pretty cool, hope I get the chance to try it out sometime. Although I still feel that adding one or two obstacles to a check would help differentiate the different battlefields... Dunno if it would be worth it, adding more rules, but how about two obstacles, both worth the same penalty? You need to have threshold with one to ignore the penalty from obstacles, but if you meet both thresholds, you gain half the penalty as a bonus to the check, because you're just that good? ...No, probably not, since the GM knows what kinds of checks the scout will meet the threshold to, so he might as well ignore that and just hand out a discretionary bonus or penalty however he see fit.

[Oleyo]

Hmm, this is interesting.  It makes strong skills less one-dimensional and skill "sets" even more character defining and interesting.

Rather than require one to always check/know if their synergy skills qualify as threshold, might it be easier to negate the penalty when a player has a number of ranks equal to the value of the penalty? (or maybe half as many)

Now that I think about it I am not sure I would actually prefer that in play.  Oh well, I will throw it out there anyway.  Never hurts to toss out even bad ideas.  Might make people think of other things.

In any case I love the idea of tagging all sorts of conditional modifiers with skills like this.  Really seems to plug into the game without much fuss.